U.S. employers eye improvements to compensation programs

Growing pressure to improve their pay-for-performance programs and ensure fair pay throughout the workplace is sparking changes to corporate America’s employee compensation and performance management programs, according to Willis Towers Watson’s 2018 Getting Compensation Right Survey.

The survey revealed several factors are prompting employers to make or consider changes to their programs, including cost (71 percent), manager feedback (63 percent), changing marketplace (61 percent) and feedback from employees (59 percent).

Changes respondents are planning to make this year, or considering over the next three years, include:

Base pay and annual incentive plans: The changing nature of work and new skills requirements are fueling employers to reassess these programs. Forty-five percent are planning on or considering redesigning annual incentive plans; 37 percent are planning on or considering changing criteria for salary increases. Among employers not redesigning their programs, most are making changes to the importance of the factors used to set base pay increases.

Heightened pay decision transparency: More than half of respondents (53 percent) are planning on or considering increasing the level of transparency around pay decisions, a challenging task given the growing complexity of pay decisions.

New technology: Employers are recognizing the need for new technology to support pay decisions. Currently, fewer than half of employers (45 percent) are using some software beyond spreadsheets to implement their pay programs. Just over half (52 percent) are planning on or considering introducing new technology.

Refocused performance management: Employers are taking a more future-focused approach to managing performance. Forty percent are planning on or considering changing the focus of performance management to include future potential and possession of skills needed to drive the business in the future. Interestingly, few organizations are planning to scrap performance ratings. While 13 percent have already done so, only 4 percent plan to do so this year.

Recognition programs: These programs are appealing to employers with limited budgets and offer a way to provide on-the-spot personalized rewards. More than half (53 percent) are planning on or considering adding a recognition program.

High marks for fair pay. The survey found that a majority of U.S. employers give themselves high marks when it comes to having formal processes in place to prevent bias or inconsistency in their hiring and pay decisions. Nearly two-thirds of respondents have established formal processes across a range of areas, including annual incentives (64 percent), hiring decisions, (63 percent), starting salaries (62 percent) and base pay increases (62 percent).

Despite high marks, 60 percent of U.S. employers are planning to take some action this year to prevent bias in hiring and pay decisions. Several areas are targeted for greater focus. More than four in 10 are planning on or considering reevaluating their recruitment and promotion processes (44 percent), conducting a gender pay or pay equity diagnostic (42 percent), and increasing communication of policies and benefits that promote an inclusive culture (33 percent). To support creating an inclusive and diverse workforce, companies are also looking to other types of programs. Nearly half have established or support internal networks (45 percent) and improved flexible work arrangements (44 percent).

Pay equity review.“Employers contending with fair pay and gender gap issues should conduct a gender pay equity review, which can help them better understand whether they have fair pay issues, where they exist, and their underlying causes,” said Mark Reid, global leader, executive compensation, Willis Towers Watson. “As more organizations define what fairness, inclusion and diversity mean to them, today’s reward leaders must understand how to tangibly impact this agenda through reward program design and delivery.”

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About the author, Rhamy

Rhamy grew up watching and working with his mother and grandmother in the seniors insurance market. This familiarity with the struggles faced by people trying to navigate the incredibly complicated and heavily regulated healthcare market led him to start Poplar Financial while working on his degree at the University of Memphis. After completing his MBA and Bachelors in Finance and Economics, Rhamy guided Poplar Financial through the disruptive opportunity that is the Affordable Care Act. Since then Poplar Financial has received numerous awards from major insurance carriers, and has completed its fourth year in a row of doubling in size. Now his team focuses on the processes around human resources, and specializes in providing companies with between 20 and 1000 employees with the payroll, benefits, and HR needs.